Films composed of gas-phase nanoparticles have a wide range of applications in technology ranging from antimicrobial coatings to high magnetization films for magnetic data storage technology. A range of gas-phase nanoparticle sources have been built in research laboratories and are also commercially available.
Conventional gas-phase nanoparticle sources, such as for example the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1, are only capable of forming deposits over a relatively small area (a few cm2). However, many applications for nanoparticle coatings, such as for example write heads or wafer, require coatings to be applied uniformly over a large area.
There is therefore a need for an apparatus and a method for producing large scale metal nanoparticle coatings on a substrate. There is also a need for an apparatus and a method for producing large scale, substantially uniform, metal nanoparticle coatings on a substrate.
The present invention seeks to address the problems of the prior art.